How to Learn HTML & CSS

HTML & CSS are the programming languages that allow modern web browsers to display web pages. Learning HTML & CSS is essential for anyone who wants to code web pages or learn more advanced programming languages. The number of options for learning HTML & CSS might be overwhelming at first glance. There are books, video tutorials, classes, and more to choose from; it all depends on your learning style and personal preferences. 

Here, we’ll discuss the various methods of learning HTML & CSS so you can decide how you’d like to get started.

What is HTML & CSS?

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are the two primary programming languages upon which all modern web infrastructure is built. These two programming languages tell your computer how to display a web page and distinguish one web element from another. HTML uses a system of tags and breaks to communicate to web browsers how a given web page should be displayed for users. It is what tells the web page you are looking at right now what the difference between a header and a paragraph is so that the web page knows when to separate the two blocks of text. CSS informs the web browser how it should display some aspects of content, assigning fonts, sizes, colors, and other visual data to web page elements. It tells the web page to display these words in a specific font, size, and color. Together, these two languages help build simple web pages composed of text, images, and hyperlinks.

Since their adoption in the mid-90s, HTML & CSS have become the most commonly used programming languages for web development, as virtually all web pages run on a skeleton built using these two languages. While the output of HTML & CSS is rather unimpressive by modern standards since it only deals with the production of visual elements, text, images, and links. However, modern web pages would be impossible to design for all their complexity without HTML & CSS. This means that anyone aspiring to work in web development must learn how to code in HTML & CSS before they can begin to learn more complex languages. 

Read more about what HTML & CSS is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with HTML & CSS?

Using HTML & CSS, you can design rudimentary web pages and begin the process of learning how to create dynamic and evocative web pages. While most modern web page design programs like WordPress allow novice users to construct more elaborate web pages than with HTML & CSS training alone, learning how to work with HTML & CSS prepares students for complex coding processes using programming languages such as JavaScript, React, or Python.

Learning HTML & CSS is also an essential first step in learning how to code web pages professionally. As more and more businesses, companies, organizations, and groups seek to establish an online presence, skilled Web Developers are in high demand. While any professional Web Developer will also need additional training, learning the fundamentals of front-end web development will ensure that students have the foundation to build into a profitable future career.

In-Person HTML & CSS Training

There is no more direct way to learn than in-person instruction for students looking to get hands-on experience with HTML & CSS. These courses will put students directly in touch with experienced programming instructors who can guide them through the complex process of learning a new coding language. In addition, students will be able to work alongside a cohort of like-minded students, giving them valuable networking and collaboration opportunities. Unfortunately, since these classes are taught in a specific space, students may be limited in their options, mainly if they don’t live near a central metropolitan area.

Noble Desktop offers in-person training at their Manhattan campus. Providing access to Noble’s on-site computer labs and small class sizes, these courses are ideal for students who want to learn HTML & CSS skills from experienced instructors in a professional setting. If the prospect of a trip to Manhattan isn’t out of the question, this is likely the most immersive training option available. Students should also consult Noble’s Classes Near Me tool to view HTML & CSS classes offered in and around their areas, such as CTS Training in Chicago or Training Connection in LA.

Live Online HTML & CSS Training

Students who cannot attend a class in person due to scheduling or travel concerns may want to consider live online instruction as a viable alternative. These courses maintain many advantages of in-person instruction, as students can still work directly with experienced instructors who are there to answer their questions and provide them with assistance and feedback. In addition, students can take classes from anywhere in the county, meaning they won’t face limitations to the courses offered in their local area. Students will miss out on networking opportunities, however, and even with the advent of modern online teaching applications, it can still be cumbersome to have an instructor reviewing your code from a distance.

Noble offers the same HTML & CSS classes provided in-person as live online instruction classes. All of the benefits, from the ability to interface with an expert instructor, to the small class sizes, to the free retakes, remain in place, so students aren’t missing out on the benefits of enrolling in a Noble course if they enroll online. Most service providers, including Ledet Training, CTS Training, and Coursera, offer HTML training. Please consult Noble Desktop's Classes Near Me tool to compare your options for live online HTML & CSS classes.

Free Online Courses & Tutorials

Looking for an overview of HTML & CSS without investing in a professional training course? Start learning HTML & CSS for free online. In these free introductory courses, you will learn the basics of tagging elements in HTML to allow web browsers to distinguish between elements of a web page and how to use CSS to alter the size, font, or color of text and other visual elements.

Noble Desktop offers a few online course options on its website and its official YouTube page. Users can visit their Web Design and Development playlist to find videos introducing students to the essential elements of front-end web development using HTML & CSS and associated programming languages. Noble also provides a free Intro to Front End Web Development course on their free seminars page. Similar to other free tutorials, this class will teach students both the basics of coding generally alongside introductory lessons on using HTML & CSS.

Numerous other free HTML & CSS training courses are available through service providers like Coursera and UDemy. Since HTML & CSS is so ingrained in web development, free resources for helping ease new programmers into coding are plentiful.

Read about more free HTML & CSS videos and online tutorials.

On-Demand HTML & CSS Classes

Students looking to learn HTML & CSS but who want more flexibility in their schedule and learning style may wish to consider on-demand classes. Some students have work or family obligations that prevent them from attending a live training course, or they may feel like they want to learn coding at a more relaxed pace than they would experience in a bootcamp. Regardless, on-demand classes can give students greater peace of mind and reduce the pressure associated with enrolling in a live course. The drawback to these courses is that learning how to code can be tricky for new students, and without a live instructor to help, it is easy to get lost and potentially be unaware of why problems arise in your code.

On-demand courses are the most varied of the HTML & CSS training options. Some of these courses feature paid lectures, while others are free modules. Some are for beginners with no coding experience, and some assume a basic knowledge of coding practices. Some classes will have an upfront fee, while others require a premium service subscription. To find out more about your options for on-demand HTML & CSS classes, look no further than Noble’s on-demand class search feature.

Which Learning Method is Right for Me?

Students may feel intimidated by the number of options available to them to learn HTML & CSS. However, one of the advantages of there being so many different available training options is that students have greater control over their own learning and can make more informed and practical decisions about how they want to learn HTML & CSS. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, so students should be judicious in considering which course is right for them.

The most immersive learning environment will usually be in-person instruction. These classes, which are taught by skilled instructors, are ideal places for students who are new to programming since they can get immediate feedback and assistance on their work. They also have the opportunity to work directly with instructors and colleagues, providing valuable networking opportunities and the ability to collaborate and learn from their peers. These courses also tend to be the most expensive options, and since they are taught in classroom spaces, students will be limited to attending the classes to which they can physically travel, which may restrict some of their options.

For students who want live instruction in HTML & CSS but cannot attend an in-person class, live online instruction may be ideal. These courses give students many of the benefits of in-person instruction, most notably the ability to interact directly with an instructor. Still, they have the advantage of letting students pick the instruction provider that is most appealing to them rather than the one with a campus in their area. These courses are also ideal for students who don’t value networking as much as they value the convenience of learning online, particularly since it will save on the cost of transportation. The drawback to these courses is that even with new online learning software and developments in synchronous learning tools, it can still be difficult and cumbersome to receive feedback on problematic code relative to learning in person.

Some students may find that live instruction doesn’t mesh with their schedule or meet their needs. These students may wish to consider on-demand, asynchronous HTML & CSS training. These courses are the most varied in their content, and many free options are available to students who want to learn in this manner. In addition, these courses let students learn at their own pace, which can be incredibly valuable to students seeking this out. However, since coding can be very challenging for first-time programmers, lacking a live instructor makes it much easier for students to get lost or find themselves unable to solve a problem in their code. This can be discouraging for new coders, and more importantly, it can be difficult for students to overcome these early obstacles, compelling them to stop learning.

Why Learn HTML & CSS?

If your goal is to build web pages, personally or professionally, you’ll need to learn how to use HTML & CSS. While almost all modern web pages use more complex programming languages, such as JavaScript or Python, HTML & CSS are the backbones of the modern website. These are the languages that tell a browser how to distinguish elements of a web page for display, meaning that these are the languages that make more internet browsing possible. Web Developers cannot construct the architecture onto which they build more complex digital elements for web pages without knowing how to use these two languages.

In addition, learning HTML & CSS is a great way to begin down the road of web development training. Today, almost no website strictly uses HTML & CSS, but by the same coin, no web pages function without HTML & CSS. This means that while anyone hoping to work in the field of web development will need more training, virtually all of that training will build off their HTML & CSS knowledge in some meaningful way. For example, when students want to learn how to build interactive elements for their web pages, they will probably want to learn JavaScript, which requires knowledge of HTML & CSS. No matter what a student wants to learn when it comes to building web pages, HTML & CSS will almost certainly be a required prerequisite.

Read more about why you should learn HTML & CSS.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost 

HTML & CSS are among the simplest coding languages to learn, but they are still coding languages, which means that users will need to learn complicated syntaxes and learn how to read and debug code that does not compile correctly. This can be difficult for novice coders, but it is a necessary first skill to learn for anyone aspiring to build web pages.

There are no formal prerequisites to learning HTML & CSS, as these languages are the prerequisite to learning almost everything else about front-end coding. Students should be comfortable using computers and expect the process of coding a web page. Still, beyond this, students won’t need prior knowledge to learn HTML & CSS.

HTML & CSS are open-source programming languages that are free to use. Novice coders will also need to acquire an HTML & CSS editing application to construct a web page. There are many different tools, such as Notepad++, Adobe Dreamweaver, UltraEdit, and Bluefish. The price of these programs will vary, but many are either completely free or have extended free versions. The actual process of launching and maintaining web pages will come with a regular service fee.

Read about how difficult it is to learn HTML & CSS.

Learn HTML & CSS with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Students looking to learn HTML & CSS can find several specialized training courses through Noble Desktop. These courses, available both in-person at Noble’s Manhattan campus and through live online instruction, will provide students with in-depth training in HTML & CSS and many programming languages built off of HTML & CSS. Regardless of the course they enroll in, students will benefit from being able to work directly with Noble’s experienced instructors. Even online, class sizes remain small to ensure that students aren’t competing for their instructor’s attention. As a bonus, all of Noble’s courses have an option to retake the class for free within a year of enrolling, giving students extra opportunities to get hands-on HTML & CSS instruction and experience.

Noble offers an introduction to web development bootcamp through their Web Development with HTML & CSS and Advanced HTML & CSS courses. These courses are designed to give students a taste of front end web development by teaching them the essential practices of coding web pages using HTML & CSS. These courses are ideal for students with no coding experience who are interested in learning the fundamental processes of learning the syntax of a programming language and translating that knowledge into the construction of a practical project. Students will learn the basic principles of using HTML tags to differentiate between elements of a web page and how to use CSS tags to apply fonts and styles to text. In the more advanced courses, students will learn how to build multi-page websites that link to one another.

Most students with aspirations of learning web development aren’t going to be content learning how to design web pages that look like they were last updated in 1997. These students may wish to enroll in Noble’s Front End Web Development Certificate program. This course will teach students the vital HTML & CSS skills they need to know to build web pages. After mastering those skills, students will learn how to use programs and languages built on top of HTML & CSS to design more complex, interactive web pages. This course will teach students how to use JavaScript, one of the most popular front end programming languages, to add interactive elements and seamless animations to their web designs. Students will also receive training on how to utilize and build WordPress templates. Nearly 40% of all modern web pages use WordPress in some capacity, so learning these skills is an ideal way to start down the path of a career in web development.

Students interested in learning more about the HTML & CSS classes and bootcamps available should consult the web development section of Noble’s website (which they can easily view and navigate thanks to developers with HTML & CSS training).

Key Insights

• HTML & CSS are the programming languages that allow web browsers to display web pages. HTML tags inform the browser on how to distinguish web elements from one another, and CSS tells the browser how to display those elements visually.
• Learning HTML & CSS is almost a requirement for programmers and indeed a requirement for anyone hoping to program web pages and other digital applications.
• There are a wide variety of options for students looking to learn HTML & CSS, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
• In-person learning is the most immersive, letting students work with instructors and colleagues directly. However, many training centers only provide instruction in one or two major cities.
• Live online learning lets students learn from anywhere, but it may be difficult for novice coders to receive feedback on their work from a distance.
• On-demand courses allow students to define their own learning schedules but lack a live instructor, meaning students may find it difficult to parse challenging concepts or common problems with their code.
• Free tutorials exist, but students looking to learn how to use HTML & CSS in a professional context will likely require more intensive training.
• Students looking to learn HTML & CSS either in-person or through live online instruction should consult the professional training courses offered by Noble Desktop.